As other commenters have said, mockery is mainly a status game and the funny thing is to lower the status of the mocked person (“only an idiot can believe such silly nonsense”). The success of mockery relies upon speaker’s rhetorical qualities and opinions (often read: prejudices) of the audience. I almost think that these are the only things it relies upon while truth of the belief doesn’t matter.
As for the weaker version, it is damned difficult to laugh at one’s own beliefs, no matter how false they are. I even suspect that the correlation is opposite: if one’s beliefs are well founded, one may feel more comfortable making fun of them, because one is certain that the humor doesn’t threaten the beliefs which are part of one’s perceived identity.
As other commenters have said, mockery is mainly a status game and the funny thing is to lower the status of the mocked person (“only an idiot can believe such silly nonsense”). The success of mockery relies upon speaker’s rhetorical qualities and opinions (often read: prejudices) of the audience. I almost think that these are the only things it relies upon while truth of the belief doesn’t matter.
As for the weaker version, it is damned difficult to laugh at one’s own beliefs, no matter how false they are. I even suspect that the correlation is opposite: if one’s beliefs are well founded, one may feel more comfortable making fun of them, because one is certain that the humor doesn’t threaten the beliefs which are part of one’s perceived identity.